Factors Influencing Acceptance of Transgender Athletes

Abstract

This study examined factors influencing acceptance of transgender athletes in sport events. Quantitative data were gathered from 373 Japanese university student-athletes. We investigated contributions of two types of predictors. One is the context in which trans athletes are placed; the other involves survey respondents’ psychological con-structs that may influence their reaction to the issue. The results show that trans men were more accepted than trans women, trans athletes with hormone treatment were considered more acceptable, and trans athletes were more accepted in unofficial sporting events for children and adults than in official national and international events. The results also revealed that for respondents with weaker athletic identity, higher degrees of belief in a just world were positively asso-ciated with attitudes of acceptance. Whereas stronger athletic identity was positively associated with acceptance for men, it was negatively associated with acceptance for women. Considering the different nuances surrounding transgender issues in Japan, our study will add cultural diversity to research literature that has mainly focused on the contexts of North America and Western Europe.